Trump Blasts John Bolton After Former Adviser Pleads Guilty in Classified Documents Case
President Donald Trump lashed out at former National Security Adviser John Bolton on Friday after his former aide pleaded guilty to mishandling classified information, reigniting a years-long feud between the two men.
Bolton pleaded guilty in federal court in Maryland to one count of unauthorized possession of a national defense document as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors. In exchange, federal prosecutors agreed to dismiss the remaining 17 charges against him at sentencing.
The plea deal sparked an immediate reaction from President Trump, who has repeatedly criticized Bolton since their highly public split during Trump’s first term in office.
“John Bolton, a very dumb, unbalanced, and unskilled former representative of the United States of America, just pleads guilty!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“He is a terrible person, a lunatic who only wanted to start trouble and wars, and who was a needless pusher of death and destruction wherever he went. Hopefully, he will be dealt with harshly!” the president added.
Bolton, 77, is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 28 and faces up to five years in prison under the plea agreement, along with a $2.25 million fine, three years of supervised release, community service requirements and the loss of his federal pension.
His attorneys have indicated they intend to seek a sentence that avoids prison time.
Federal prosecutors alleged that Bolton improperly retained classified material after leaving government service, including documents classified at the top-secret level.
According to court filings, Bolton maintained more than 1,000 pages of notes documenting his time as national security adviser and shared portions of those materials with family members using personal email accounts.
Prosecutors said the documents contained highly sensitive intelligence information involving covert operations, intelligence sources and foreign military threats.
FBI Director Kash Patel said the case demonstrated that Bolton knowingly mishandled classified information.
“This FBI’s investigation proved that John Bolton knowingly transmitted top-secret information using personal online accounts and retained said documents in his house — all in direct violation of federal law,” Patel said in a statement.
He also rejected claims that the case was politically motivated, saying investigators simply followed the evidence.
Bolton served as Trump’s national security adviser from April 2018 until September 2019. Trump has long maintained that he fired Bolton, while Bolton has insisted that he resigned from the administration.
Their relationship deteriorated even further after Bolton released his 2020 memoir, “The Room Where It Happened,” which contained a sharply critical portrayal of Trump’s presidency.
The Trump administration unsuccessfully attempted to block publication of the book, arguing it contained classified information that could harm national security.
Bolton’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, defended his client’s decision to accept responsibility through the plea agreement.
“He took responsibility for a mistake he made, thereby saving the government resources to pursue a case that could expose additional sensitive information,” Lowell said.
Lowell also contrasted Bolton’s conduct with Trump’s handling of classified materials, arguing that Bolton preserved records for historical purposes while Trump retained documents for personal reasons.
The guilty plea brings an end to a lengthy investigation that began after federal authorities alleged Bolton improperly stored and transmitted classified information following his departure from government service.